Getting the Girl
by Caroline
Summary: [MJ] Michael's stomach dropped with the realization that Jan was his only choice. And she got away.


TITLE: Getting the Girl  
AUTHOR: Caroline  
SPOILERS: "Casino Night"  
RATING: R  
SUMMARY: His stomach dropped with the realization that Jan was his only choice. And she got away.  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is an AU "Casino Night" in answer to the overwhelming response my LJ poll received :D Eighty-four percent of you wanted some M/J lovin', so here it is! And you guys are the best, by the way. My inspiration to keep writing.

* * *

Love triangles. Like the shape itself, there were sharp edges to each and every one, and it was inevitable that someone would wind up getting hurt. Michael just never expected it would be him. He spent the entire night dressed to the nines, confident that he was a stud, having two dates to the Dunder Mifflin Casino Night event. Jan and Carol had both agreed to go, and so came the love triangle.

Carol was great. Bubbly and smart and fun... and she sold him his condo. His crappy condo with the too-thin walls and the mortgage that would last him until he was in his seventies. She seemed to be a nice mother, too. Sure, he only saw her kids at the ice skating arena on his birthday, but she had signed them up for lessons... so that automatically made her a good mother, right? Signing her children up for things?

Then there was Jan Levinson. Michael loved to refer to her as 'The One That Got Away.' Jan stole his heart the moment she fell asleep on his arm in her hotel room, after they'd kissed at Chili's. He tried with every fiber of his being to get her to see how compatible they were, but she continually pushed him away. Except, of course, for that kiss she planted on him on Valentine's Day. That had been unexpected, to say the least.

The one that got away. She got away because Michael had no idea what she really wanted. She got away because he had no idea how to 'tame' her wild independence and stoic professionalism. And tonight she got away because he paid too much attention to Carol. It had been mere moments since Jan had said goodnight, and now Michael was panicking. Carol was great, but did he really want to be here with her? He asked her because Jan said no initially. Jan was the first choice.

His stomach dropped with the realization that Jan was his only choice. And she got away.

"Michael? I should really be going, too."

He turned to look at Carol and nodded automatically. "Sure, okay."

"I just don't want to make the sitter stay too late, you know?"

"Yeah, absolutely." He tried not to be too obvious as he looked around for any fleeting glimpse of Jan.

"But I had fun tonight! Maybe we could do it again."

"Okay, goodnight Carol!" And before he could get a response, he tore off in a manic search for the one that got away. He could apologize to Carol some other time.

He spotted her climbing into her car, and he sprinted to reach her in time. She reached for the door to close it and he panicked yet again.

"Jan! Wait!"

She leaned slightly out her door, dark blonde curls sliding over her leather-clad shoulders as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Michael? What are you doing?"

He bent over upon reaching her, bracing his hands on his knees as he fought to regain his breath. "I really gotta start working out again," he panted.

Michael looked up and caught the slow arch of one perfectly-shaped eyebrow. He adored her. "Was that all you came out here to say, Michael?"

"No." He worshipped the ground she walked so gracefully on. "It's not." He loved it when she got mad at him and was certain she could kick his ass. "I'm sorry, I need to catch my breath a second." He loved the way she so adamantly denied what was going on between them but would still steal glances at him. "Sorry." He loved that she had the balls to lean in and kiss him on Valentine's Day.

"Take your time." She shut off the engine and climbed out of her car.

Michael automatically stuck out his hand to help her up, and smiled nervously at the gracious smile she gave in return. "Thanks." He loved that he was the one to see her rare bright smiles. "I just had to..." He loved that he could see past her hard-ass exterior to the warm, sensitive, passionate woman she was underneath. "I just..." He panted, and loved the way that he could see a glimmer of concern in her eyes.

"Just breathe, Michael."

He loved that she hadn't yet taken her hand from his, and he loved how soft her skin was. "Okay." He loved the faint smattering of freckles on her nose and the way she would narrow her eyes at him. He was almost positive he just loved _her_. "There, I think I'm better now."

"Alright." Jan's hand slid from his and he panicked that she would get away again.

He grabbed her hand and watched surprise light her blue eyes. But she allowed the contact. "Michael, what did you come out here for?"

Michael loved that she was expecting some suave line or crappy joke or odd behavior, because it was what she always expected from him. But he also loved that he could shock her from time to time. He chose to do that now. He looked up and met her eyes, stared into them. "Jan, stay."

"What? No, Michael. I have to be getting back to New York."

He stepped a little closer and loved the look that came to her face when he invaded her personal space. "I want to apologize for tonight. With Carol."

"You don't have to apologize to me. Remember? We're both adults, and we're not... I mean, we don't have..."

Michael smiled just a little and loved that she was failing at covering how she was really feeling. "I wanted you to come tonight. When you said no, then yeah, I asked Carol. Then, when I was on the phone with her, you called and told me yes. That you needed a break."

"And I did. I had it. Break's over. I have to go home, now." She dropped his hand almost harshly.

It seemed the one that got away was going to do so yet again. Until Michael glimpsed into her car. "Is that your overnight bag?"

Jan looked over her shoulder at it and Michael loved that he could see the wheels turning in her head, conjuring up a lie. "I just--"

"You weren't planning on going home tonight, Jan. So why are you going now?"

He watched her sigh and drop her chin to her chest. She shook her head slowly, side-to-side, voice emerging soft. "Things shouldn't have to be this complicated."

"Anything worth having is complicated to... have," he commented, attempting sage wisdom.

Jan looked up and furrowed her brows. "Michael, that doesn't make any sense."

"Yes it does. Maybe not... in an obvious way, but if you think about it for a few minutes, it does."

She arched her eyebrow...

"Look," Michael sighed. "What I mean is that I wanted you here tonight. I told you that you needed a break because you do. You need a break from being alone, you need a break from fighting this. Why do you fight it so much, Jan?"

"Because we work together, and I shouldn't have to explain that to you! I'm your boss."

"So if work wasn't a factor, would you still be fighting this so much? Because I think, in the back of your mind, you know that we have chemistry. You know that we might have something worth having... so maybe that's why you'd like it to be complicated."

"I wouldn't like _anything _to be complicated, Michael. Some things just are."

"Okay, but this really isn't."

"It really is. We should not have kissed that night. By doing so, we invariably... started something... that can put both of our jobs in jeopardy."

"So you're admitting that we started something that night?"

Jan huffed and lolled her head back, her eyes rolling skyward. "My God, Michael, you are so frustrating. I just -- I don't--"

"So we started something that could get us both fired, and it almost did once, but then after everything was okay and after you'd already told me it was over, you still kissed me. What am I supposed to do with that, Jan?"

She shrugged and reached for her door handle again. "Chalk it up to Valentine's Day, I don't know. I have to go."

"If you didn't have feelings for me, you wouldn't have shown up here tonight."

Jan spun on her heel. "What?"

"If you didn't feel anything for me, if whatever we had at one time really was over, then you would have said no to me. And you wouldn't have packed an overnight bag." He loved that it was so damn easy to rile her up.

"You are an arrogant, pig-headed--"

He never let her finish... just kissed her instead. He didn't want to hear the rest of it, anyway. She'd berated him enough times and despite the facade he put up, each time hurt. A lot. So instead of listening to another of Jan's Michael-bashing sessions, he just kissed her. And when she pushed her fists into his chest, trying to push him away, he just held tighter to her, first grabbing her wrists and forcing her fists to relax... and then wrapping his arms so tight around her waist she'd never be able to break free.

And to her credit, Jan really did try to fight him. She pushed on his chest with her palms and Michael could have sworn he'd even felt her foot lift off the ground in preparation to kick him. But then he tilted his head and softened the kiss and she just... gave up. She sunk against him, hanging onto the lapels of his tux jacket while his arms took over the task of holding her up.

The fact that people were still inside the warehouse that could possibly come out to spot them didn't matter in that moment... nor did the fact that there were probably cameras somewhere close catching this intimate exchange. Neither seemed to care.

Michael gently pulled back, eyes half-lidded with desire. "Come home with me."

* * *

They barely made it inside his condo before he pinned Jan to the door and kissed her again, pulling her body flush against his. The tension had been high between them since Chili's, and had spiked even higher after that kiss in the elevator... inevitably leading them to where they were right now.

Michael pushed Jan's leather jacket from her shoulders and heard it drop to the linoleum in the entryway. He felt her fingers fluttering around near his neck, untying his bowtie and then shoving at his tux jacket. They stumbled further inside his dark condo, deep kisses exchanged while they attempted to divest each other of their clothes. Michael could not believe his luck. Perhaps Lady Fortune really _had_ been his boss tonight.

He moved his lips to her neck and loved the sharp intake of breath he heard in response, his own breath quickening when Jan started to undo the buttons of his crisp white dress shirt. He took hold of hers, untucking the hem from her form-hugging blue jeans before he hastily opened all the buttons. Their shirts then joined the rest of the trail of clothes leading to Michael's bedroom.

His hand found Jan's waist, feeling over her bare skin before sliding upward, stopping just under the line of her bra. His fingers danced over the lace that confined her and he nearly came undone when she moaned into his mouth. This was more than he ever could've asked for -- Jan responding positively to his touch. Granted, she'd done so on that first night, but... since then the constant rebuffing of his affection left him feeling unsure of himself. Now, there was nothing to be unsure of. Jan wanted this. With him. He could die happy, now.

While Jan worked his belt free of his slacks, Michael wrapped his arms around her waist and tackled her to the bed, grinning a mile wide when he heard her melodious laugh. Then, his smiling lips were on her collarbone, moving lower to kiss the soft mounds of flesh held captive in black lace. He felt her writhe beneath him and could very well have died right there.

Her hands threaded through his short, dark hair, and his name escaped her lips on a sigh. "Michael..."

He hummed just a little against her skin and loved that he felt her jump at the sensation, before his lips ventured lower. Her toned, flat stomach was soon lavished with kisses while he undid her stylish belt and pulled it free of her jeans, undoing the button. The sound of the zipper being dragged down was, quite simply, pure ecstasy for his ears, and before he knew it he was peeling those form-hugging jeans down her endlessly long legs, finally dropping the denim to the floor. When his lips were met with the lace waistline of her panties, he heard her whimper.

"Michael, please."

Dear God, he'd never heard anything so exquisite in his life. The woman he adored above everyone else in the world was begging him to make love to her. Who was he to say no to that?

He stripped himself quickly -- at breakneck speed, he'd noted most proudly -- before divesting Jan of her two remaining, miniscule, items of clothing. When all the barriers between them had been discarded then, finally, he slid her up further on his mattress until she was laying against the pillows, and he was hovering over her. He loved that he could still see those blue eyes of hers sparkling in the dark.

Michael felt her hands on his back, pulling him closer, and he leaned down to kiss her as he reminded her, "Everything changes now, Jan."

He felt her nod before their lips broke. "Yes."

"I should get a--"

"I'm on the pill, Michael," she informed him, already guiding him into her.

And Michael thanked whatever higher power that brought Jan to him in the first place as he sank into her.

Now, Michael never considered himself a great lover. He never even considered himself all that experienced... and all the times he'd fantasized about finally sleeping with Jan, he somehow always imagined not being adequate enough for her. However, with the way she was responding to his movements... he got the idea that tonight, for Jan, he was more than adequate. Maybe it was all that crazy sexual tension, luckily somehow turning him into a stud.

Every slide into her incited a deep gasp from Jan, and every slide out brought with it a disappointed whimper. Michael's head nearly exploded with the idea that, at that moment, Jan couldn't get enough of him. Her head was thrown back against the pillows in ecstasy, and her perfectly-manicured fingernails were currently doing quite a bit of damage to his lower back as she held on tight. There _was _a God after all, he thought.

When she moaned his name, it was almost too much to bear. It almost pushed him over the edge... which so was not going to fly tonight. He had to make this last. Not just for Jan, but for himself. So he stilled. He kissed her neck and hummed against her skin when she twined her legs around him, rubbing his back with her arms.

Desire still lay heavy in her voice as she called, "Michael?" probably wondering what was wrong.

"I just... I need a minute," he panted. Probably not the most romantic thing to say, but it was the truth. His head was spinning and he was finding himself crazy in love with her already, and this had barely begun.

He smiled against Jan's shoulder when she leaned up and kissed his earlobe, murmuring an understanding, "Take your time," before hugging him tight to her.

That was all Michael needed. He kissed her lips again as he began to move slowly, deeply. His head still spun, but he was beginning to enjoy the feeling. Like being completely intoxicated, without having a drop of alcohol. He was drunk on Jan, drunk on the knowledge that they were really here, together... that she was letting him make love to her and that she was actually _enjoying _herself.

"Oh God, Michael," she breathed, and he nearly lost it again.

His heart was beating way too fast and his stomach was somersaulting in the very best of ways. In that moment he was really, completely in love with her. In love with every part of her, inside and out. He adored her... worshipped the ground she walked so gracefully on. He loved that he was the one to see her rare bright smiles and that he could see past her hard-ass exterior to the warm, sensitive, passionate woman she was underneath.

He loved the scent of her skin, some perfume he couldn't place and just pure Jan... and the way she ran her fingers through his hair. He loved her gorgeous long legs and flawless curves and adored the way she said his name... both when she was furious at him and when she was moaning in ecstasy. He loved that through the facade she put up for the cameras, she really did know there was something building between them... something that would inevitably always lead to this moment they were in right now, and beyond.

He loved that he always wanted to be around her and that he constantly missed her when she wasn't there. He loved that he could see having a future with her... and adored that he saw the same knowledge reflected back at him through her eyes. He buried his face in her hair. "Jan..."

"Michael," she echoed, arching her back. She was close.

"I think I..." He fought to catch his breath, and kissed up her jawline to her lips, breathing into her, "I love you."

He opened his eyes to see her mouth drop open, possibly in a silent scream -- he couldn't be sure, but that was sure as hell what it looked like -- before her eyes snapped shut and she shuddered around him. Her hands clawed at his back and her head lolled back against the pillows. Michael had to feel just a little proud of himself in that moment. Just three little words -- that he meant with all of himself, by the way -- tipped her over the edge.

And he was quick to follow. He always was. Wherever Jan went, he wanted to go there too. Always.

When they were completely spent, they collapsed in a boneless heap against his bed, limbs still twined around each other, each unwilling to relinquish their hold on the other. "Michael, I..."

He kissed her. He knew without her saying it that she wasn't ready to give those words back to him. And he was okay with that for now. "I know," he murmured against her lips.

Jan kissed him back, passionately, showing him without words exactly how she felt. And then -- as if she hadn't already -- she completely stole his heart when she whispered, "Can I stay?"

He nodded emphatically and dropped onto his side, pulling her back against him and spooning around her. "Stay as long as you want, Jan. Days, months... years. Forever. It's all good."

He felt Jan snuggle back against him while she hummed something incoherent at the back of her throat, already drifting off to sleep. Michael couldn't stop the face-splitting grin.

For once in his life, he finally got the girl.

* * *

FIN

* * *

**MORE AUTHOR'S NOTES:** _Fellow Michael & Jan fanatics who have an LJ, please visit my profile, where you will find a link to my M/J community, "A Perfect Imperfect Thing." _


End file.
